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About this project

Hello there!

My name is Laurent and thank you for rolling in on my
Kickstarter page.

Mato is a stress toy and flash drive intended to playfully work the tension out of your fingers and wrist, a common problem if you are a frequent user of a mouse, or if you text intensively. A finger work-out gives you a break and can increase blood circulation into your tired hand.

The skin of Mato is formed by a silky upholstery fabric famed for its use in Armani Interiors. This fabric gives this toy an urge to touch it, calling you to wrap it around your fingers.

Mato comes equipped with the latest COB (Chip on Board) USB flash module. This capless USB connector resists water, dust and static discharges so you don't need to be worried about damaging your drive while working the toy.

Mato plays with the idea of being more than just a piece of electronics or a minified tool to carry out our daily tasks. I wanted the drive to have some substance, occupy more space, both physically and emotionally. An object that would stick to you and you in return would stick to it.

For the skin I have chosen to use a special fabric developed by Danish expertise. This durable yet stretchy non-woven upholstery fabric dresses and flows over the components in an almost organic manner. The fabric catches light in a way that is reminiscent of anodized metal creating an appealing contrast between the organic shapes and the metallic reflections.

Each Mato brings a breeze of flavor and friendship, fresh as lime, chili and coriander. Waiting and hoping to trigger your friendship in return.

I have worked out all the design details and production
steps, but without your support I cannot make Mato a reality. My goal is
to raise $18,000 which will allow me to pay for the manufacturing of the first
batch of Mato Drives. All funds raised will go towards tooling and material
costs.

And so I would like to encourage you to invite a Mato into
your territory and help the Matos flourish and bloom in new exiting places
outside my studio.

There are 6 color combinations you can choose from. Each is available
at an 8 GB and 16 GB capacity.

Each Mato has a name so upon
a hopefully successful Kickstarter campaign you will be able to welcome the one of your choice by name.

Thank you for joining in adding flavor to electronics.

Cheers!

Laurent

Many thanks to my brother Christer for the help with the animation and editing of the video, to Mahtab for the patient modeling, Matti for the use of his music and Jason for the narration.

Risks and challenges

Mato is composed of 4 main components: textile, spring, flash drive and casing. The textile is produced in Denmark, the springs will be produced locally by Italians, the flash drives will be ordered in bulk from a Silicon Valley based company and the drive casings will be injection molded in China. All components will be shipped to our studio in Milan where they will be assembled, packaged and finally shipped out to you.

Once I have received the funding my job will be to make sure all the partners I'm working with maintain the desired quality standards and meet the agreed deadlines. For the past three months I have been communicating with different partner companies and have selected the ones I'm confident will deliver the components to your satisfaction and mine.